Address: Palazzo Medici Riccardi,Via Cavour, 1
The Chapel of the Magi occupies an important place in the
Medici Palace which Cosimo il
Vecchio built, starting in about 1444, in accordance with the
architectural design by Michelozzo di Bartolomeo.
In its original aspect (i.e. preceding the
"cutting-out" of a corner desired by subsequent owners
of the Palace, the Marchesi Riccardi in 1699), the Chapel was
perfectly symmetrical, and had its entrance through the central
door, which today is closed.
Inside, the Chapel is divided into two juxtaposed squares: a
large hall and a raised rectangular apse with an altar and two
small lateral sacristies.
Begun around 1449-50, the Chapel was probably terminated in 1459
with the precious ceiling of inlaid wood, painted and generously
gilded attributed to Pagno di Lapo Portigiano, according to
Michelozzo's design. The latter also designed the flooring of
marble mosiac work divided by elaborate geometric design, which
due to the extraordinary value of the materials (porphyries,
granites, etc.), affirmed the Medicis' desire to emulate the
magnificence of the Roman basilicas
and the Florentine Baptistry.
The first pictorial element in the Chapel was the altar panel
bearing Filippo Lippi's Adoration of the Christ Child, which was
sold during the last century and today is in Berlin.<
In its place is a copy attributed to the Pseudo Pier Francesco
Fiorentino, a follower of Lippi, which has fully regained its
orignal beauty due its restoration completed in 1992. The Chapel
is famous moreover, for the series of wall paintings by Benozzo
Gozzoli, with the Angels in Adoration in the rectangular apse and
the Journey of the Magi in the large hall. Painted during the
years subsequent to 1459, but in any case by 1463, they represent
the masterpiece of this painter, dedicated to a sacred subject
but rich in traces of pomp and secular elegance with all the care
that Cosimo and Piero de' Medici - as exigent buyers and
connoisseurs of art - expected of him. Hosts of angels sing and
adore on a rural background civilly partioned, like the typical
Florentine countryside.
While the magnificent procession of the Three Kings approaches
Bethelem accompanied by their respective entourages they enjoy
the scene of a noble hunting party with falcone and felines along
the way.
The sumptuous and varied costumes with their princely finishings
make this pictorial series one of the most fascinating
testimonies of art and costume of all time. Among the followers
of the Magi there are numerous family portraits. On the north
wall, in the entourage of young King Kaspar (whom poetic
tradition considers an ideal portrait of Lorenzo de' Medici, the
future "Magnifico"), may identified Cosimo with his
sons Piero, Giovanni and Carlo, the young princes Lorenzo and
Giuliano di Piero and the painter Benozzo.
The restoration of the paintings (1987-1992) have revealed a
refined and complex operational technique and made it possible to
fully appreciate Benozzo's compositional capacity. He was a
skilled constructor of animated landscape backdrops in
perspective, besides being an analytical witness of the knightly
pomp of the Court, in which are incorporated the memories of
magnificent parades which, during the Feast of Magi the and on
other important celebrative occasions, wended their way along the
Via Larga under the palace windows.
The precious interior decoration of the Chapel is completed by a
wooden baldachin worked in inlay and carving, whose architectural
design is attributed to Giuliano da Sangallo, around 1469.
